


FebuWhump2021 Day 17: Field Medicine

by startrekkingaroundasgard



Series: FebuWhump2021 [17]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alien Invasion, BAMF Helen Cho, Blood and Injury, Child Death, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Mental Breakdown, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Suffering
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-17
Updated: 2021-02-17
Packaged: 2021-03-16 14:35:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29083995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/startrekkingaroundasgard/pseuds/startrekkingaroundasgard
Summary: Caught out in the middle of an alien invasion, Doctor Cho jumps straight to work and helps to save the injured. When things look beyond bleak, Natasha reminds Helen of what is important.
Series: FebuWhump2021 [17]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2156145





	FebuWhump2021 Day 17: Field Medicine

Helen had only gone out to grab some lunch. She had never imagined that she’d end up caught in a war zone. Buildings were crumbling around her, people were screaming. Pushing and shoving away from the ever expanding centre of the battle, they tripped over one another, fell into the growing cracks in the street and leapt awkwardly over fallen pedestrians just to get away.

It was mass panic on a scale she had never seen before. Overhead, a giant spaceship hovered, blocked out the sun and cast darkness over her city. Alien creatures leapt from building to building, small ships shot at the lower city and wrought flames and ruin on entire districts. It could almost be mistaken for the end of the world.

When a Quinjet came over the horizon, branding the Avenger’s A on the side, a true symbol of hope if ever there was one, Helen’s instincts kicked in immediately. The Avengers were here to do their job and she needed to do hers. People were getting hurt. They needed saving. So, that’s what she did.

Darting back and forth across the road, Helen examined their injuries and either helped them to their feet and waved them on or bandaged them up and called for help so she could move on to others. She was no stranger to broken bones protruding out of the skin or bleeding gashes. She kept calm and moved through the devastation with a level head.

The real trouble came after the battle ended. The Avengers had pinned the alien army into one section of the city. However, as Helen moved through the mass of patients lying out in the street under a beating sun, she saw the true damage of their attack. It wasn’t rubbled infrastructure or a few broken bones. It was so much worse.

The alien invaders had been indiscriminate, slicing men, women and children down where they stood to make it to the artefact. Their weapons were vicious, all jagged edges that tore through internal organs and twisting spikes that snapped off and remained embedded in the body of their victims. Those that survived pleaded for death, a release from their agony, but Helen couldn’t give them what they wanted. All she could do was sew up the worst wounds and move on to the next patient.

She couldn’t bring herself to joke, to hang around and try and make them smile, to raise their shattered spirits. Too many people needed her assistance anyway. She couldn’t hold their hand as they took their final shaking breath or comfort their loved ones, as they were lost somewhere beneath the wreckage too. All Helen could do was wave down other emergency workers and send them to the nearest hospital for a peaceful, more comfortable place to die.

It was when she saw a child no more than four, her black hair pulled back into small ponytails, her tiny jacket drenched in blood, that Helen’s compose fractured. The girl was so brave. She bit down on a rag, the fabric torn from Helen’s own clothes, and sobbed as she poured alcohol over the wound. She squeezed her eyes shut as Helen cauterised her worst wound and applied a tourniquet to her left leg to try and slow the bleeding. She’d lose her foot, no doubt, but she still managed to whisper a quiet thank you before she was taken away.

Feeling sick to her stomach, Helen stumbled into a back alley and screamed. She screamed until she fell to her knees, gasping for fresh air. But nothing was clean or fresh here. The air was thick with ash and death, the pain of the population almost too much to handle. Tears fell from her eyes. Fury and sorrow swirled inside her, anger at the universe and desolation for the poor little girl warring for dominance.

Movement behind a large skip caught her attention. Rustling, scratching. Someone was there, probably hurt. Helen took a deep breath then wiped wiped away the tears and crept into the shadows. “Hello? Are you injured? I am a doctor. I can help you.”

A giant creature leapt out at her, pinned her frame beneath its five enormous limbs. She winced as its slobber dripped onto her cheek. The skin tingled and then grew suddenly hot, the acidic effects not quite enough to make her scream out in pain but close. She fought as it opened its jaw, hundreds of sharp teeth snapping above her face.

Realising the futility of her situation, Helen closed her eyes and thought of her family. If she was to die, at least she could leave this world with a pleasant thought.

But then the creature howled, the weight on her limbs disappeared and Helen opened her eyes to see its smoking corpse a few feet away. Strong but delicate fingers lifted her up and she turned to a welcome face. Her hands trembling, Helen wiped the dirt on her tattered shirt and nodded. “Thank you, Agent Romanoff.”

“You alright?”

Helen rolled her wrists, checked her hands for any sign of major injury. She was lucky. She’d escaped where others had not. With another tight nod, she asked, “Are there more coming?”

Natasha smiled weakly. “There’s always more. We’re keeping them contained but I’m dealing with the few that got out. It’s – Take a breath.” Natasha grabbed her wrists with just enough force to bite. The sharpness stopped Helen’s thoughts from spiralling. “That’s better. You’re doing great work, Doctor.”

“It doesn’t feel like,” Helen confessed, the little girl’s contorted face at the forefront of her mind.

Understanding better than most people ever could, Natasha said, “You can’t think like that. People die and sometimes there is nothing you can do. You’re doing your best and that’s all anyone can. You okay to get back in there or do you need another minute?”

“I will be fine,” Helen insisted, although who she was convincing was either’s guess. “Go.”

Natasha hesitated but ultimately her mission overrode any desire to stay and comfort her. Helen understood perfectly. It was the way things had to be. So, focused on what she _could_ do rather than what was beyond her capabilities, Helen turned and headed back to work.


End file.
